1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management method for a gaming hall containing a great number of gaming machines. More particularly, the invention relates to a management method for monitoring whether gaming machines are properly operated and for emitting an alarm signal if they are not.
2. Description of the Related Art
A gaming hall such as a casino or the like contains a great number of gaming machines such as slot machines and Japanese pin ball machines (pachinko machines). A slot machine uses tokens (including coins) as its playing media and a pachinko machine uses steel balls as its playing media.
Many gaming halls use a management system for checking whether gaming machines are properly operated without fraud or irregularity by players and employees. For example, each pachinko machine is equipped with a magnetic sensor and an opening sensor for a transparent front door, and these sensors are connected to a computer of the management system. This management computer has a management program to detect fraudulent acts and give an alarm. Fraudulent acts include changing the path of fall of a steel ball by using a magnet so as to draw the ball into a winning hole, or opening the transparent front door and manually entering a steel ball into a winning hole. A TV camera is also located in some gaming halls to monitor fraudulent acts by players.
It is also known to display the ratio (payout factor) of the number of playing media entered into a gaming machine to the number of paid-out media, on a display screen of the management computer. In this case, a payout factor is preset for each gaming machine.
Another unacceptable act is to use playing media of a different gaming hall. For such a player, the sales of the subject hall are zero. If this player using media of the different gaming hall wins media of the subject hall and exchanges them for premiums (such as goods and money), the subject hall has a deficit and must regard this as fraud. Conventional management systems have been unable to detect such a fraudulent act.
In other possible cases, an employee steals playing media from a gaming machine and passes them to a confederate player, or an employee increases the count of a credit counter for a confederate player.
These fraudulent acts can be detected only after closing the gaming hall, by checking the total number of sold playing media representing the sales of the hall, the total number of media exchanged for premiums, the total number of media inserted in all the gaming machines, and the total number of media paid out from all the gaming machines. However, the time and location of each fraudulent act cannot be identified by a conventional management system. In addition, it is necessary for a conventional management system to mount a sensor or the like on each gaming machine, resulting in a complicated machine structure and high cost. A TV monitor system requires a person in charge who monitors display screens, increasing the number and cost of personnel.
There is also the problem of over-pay, which leads to a large deficit for a gaming hall. The term "over-pay" as used herein means a payout factor much larger than the payout factor preset for each slot machine or pachinko machine, because of an abnormal operation of a microcomputer provided for each machine or of a fraudulent act by a player.